A Perthshire pensioner has called on heads of government to “act immediately” to ensure the safety of the surviving passengers on the Palestinian aid ship stormed by Israeli commandos.
At least nine unarmed civilians are thought to have been killed in fighting on board the Mavi Marmara, which was leading a “freedom flotilla” towards the war-torn Gaza Strip.
Alison Phillips (69), from Kinloch Rannoch, is “deeply concerned” for her friend Theresa McDermott, who is unaccounted for.
A communications worker from Edinburgh, Ms McDermott (43) was on her fifth aid journey for the Free Gaza Movement.
Secretary of the Scottish Palestinian Forum, Ms Phillips has written an urgent letter to UK foreign secretary William Hague and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, appealing to them to support an international inquiry into the incident.
The retired teacher has campaigned for years against Israel’s blockade along the Gaza Strip, which prevents the movement of food, medicine and even clean drinking water.
She was part of an international band of delegates involved in a major stand-off last Christmas.
Speaking exclusively to The Courier on Monday, Ms Phillips said, “This morning’s attack on the flotilla took place in international waters and was thus a grave violation of both international maritime and humanitarian law.
“I protest as strongly as possible and demand action from the international community. I ask that the Israeli ambassador be summoned to the Foreign Office to explain these actions and, like many other people, look to both the Westminster and Scottish parliaments to counter the very serious threat to peace in the Middle East.”
She added, “I also think we should recall the British ambassador from Israel. We need to make a stand.
“The European Union has demanded an inquiry and I ask that both the United Kingdom and Scottish governments energetically support this demand.””A war-like attack”Ms Phillips met aid worker Ms McDermott at the Scottish Parliament last month, and the pair gave frank accounts of their time volunteering in Gaza to a cross-party think-tank.
Ms Phillips said people trapped on the ships had been using micro-blogging site Twitter to document what was happening but all tweets had suddenly stopped.
She said, “There were tweets coming in refuting claims violence had been used against the Israelis but they have since dried up.
“It is clear the government there do not want freedom of speech.
“No names have yet been released of the deceased but reports are saying at least six were EU citizens. I am growing more and more concerned for Theresa no-one has heard from her.”
She added, “It was a war-like attack against humanitarians and shows a government that has lost all restraint.
“There are ways of stopping ships but this is absolutely unacceptable and must be punished.”
Ms Phillips said, “It could have a huge impact on the security of the Middle East and ultimately world peace during what is meant to be a week of prayer for peace in the region.
“This flotilla was not a warship it was trying to save lives.
“In the past western governments have pussy-footed around Israel for a number of reasons but let us hope this will prompt action.”
Photo used under Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user freegazaorg.